RWD F-sport rare find
05-02-13, 11:38 AM
#1
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RWD F-sport rare find
I am interested in checking out a new GS 350 F-Sport RWD here in the greater Boston area and have found it near impossible to find one. I realize with our winters why there would be a majority of AWD choices but having been driving here for over 40 years and have owned many rwd vehicles(2 SC 430s as well as others) equipped with a set of 4 snows to be more than acceptable. Is this the case in most of the Northern snow belt states or are they rare to find everywhere? I would be curious to hear from rwd owners that may have looked at the awd and decided to go rwd and if there was a significant difference in the two choices.
Thanks for any feedback
JTMav
Thanks for any feedback
JTMav
05-02-13, 12:23 PM
#3
I am interested in checking out a new GS 350 F-Sport RWD here in the greater Boston area and have found it near impossible to find one. I realize with our winters why there would be a majority of AWD choices but having been driving here for over 40 years and have owned many rwd vehicles(2 SC 430s as well as others) equipped with a set of 4 snows to be more than acceptable. Is this the case in most of the Northern snow belt states or are they rare to find everywhere? I would be curious to hear from rwd owners that may have looked at the awd and decided to go rwd and if there was a significant difference in the two choices.
Thanks for any feedback
JTMav
Thanks for any feedback
JTMav
05-02-13, 12:44 PM
#4
Lead Lap
Yeah, there is a line drawn through the country that only get AWD and only get RWD. From what I was told, the RWDs come through the JAX port and the AWDs come through the Portland port. If you want a RWD, your dealer will have to trade to get one, or you can contact the dealer directly and pay the "shipping" costs.
I'm in KY...we get AWDs, but TN gets RWDs...so north vs south.
I'm in KY...we get AWDs, but TN gets RWDs...so north vs south.
05-02-13, 01:13 PM
#6
Each dealer orders the inventory themselves according to what they know they can sell. Any state can get any vehicle they want but pay for it to sit till it sells. We ordered a LFA here, has been sitting pretty in the show room for quite a while...
05-02-13, 01:39 PM
#7
Lead Lap
Seems smart, to order AWD vehicles where snow/ice is typically expected 4-6 months of the year.
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05-03-13, 05:27 AM
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Thanks for all the help. I don't want to commit to a car without a good test drive. I'll see if a dealer will swap for one and see where it goes from there.
JTMav
JTMav
05-03-13, 07:23 AM
#11
When I was looking for my GS, the dealerships told me that less than 5% of the cars they sell are RWD and as such they don't order them unless they're special (they did say they can order them though). In a way I was "lucky" that they didn't have a RWD to test drive as the comparison between the two would have probably made me want to buy the RWD. Because I only drove the AWD (and my comparison points were my wife's EX35, and my dad's older E-4Matic and current gen CLS-4Matic), I didn't "notice" a difference that made me want to go RWD.
I also probably wouldn't have been able to negotiate the price down as much if I had demanded a RWD.
On that note, the sales manager at the first dealership either didn't know about the rear wheel steering or outright tried to deceive me. To paraphrase him "It makes no sense to get the RWD F-Sport as it's the same price as the AWD F-Sport". When I pointed out that the RWD F-Sport has four wheel steering and some other better components, he said it didn't. He said he went to special GS training and they told him the cars were identical other than how the wheels were driven. Couple that with him only giving me a $500 discount on MSRP and he lost my business. Unfortunate for him because my parents had bought two LX from him before.. and going forward I'm going to refer them to another dealership.
FYI, I'm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I also probably wouldn't have been able to negotiate the price down as much if I had demanded a RWD.
On that note, the sales manager at the first dealership either didn't know about the rear wheel steering or outright tried to deceive me. To paraphrase him "It makes no sense to get the RWD F-Sport as it's the same price as the AWD F-Sport". When I pointed out that the RWD F-Sport has four wheel steering and some other better components, he said it didn't. He said he went to special GS training and they told him the cars were identical other than how the wheels were driven. Couple that with him only giving me a $500 discount on MSRP and he lost my business. Unfortunate for him because my parents had bought two LX from him before.. and going forward I'm going to refer them to another dealership.
FYI, I'm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
05-03-13, 07:36 AM
#12
When I was looking for my GS, the dealerships told me that less than 5% of the cars they sell are RWD and as such they don't order them unless they're special (they did say they can order them though). In a way I was "lucky" that they didn't have a RWD to test drive as the comparison between the two would have probably made me want to buy the RWD. Because I only drove the AWD (and my comparison points were my wife's EX35, and my dad's older E-4Matic and current gen CLS-4Matic), I didn't "notice" a difference that made me want to go RWD.
I also probably wouldn't have been able to negotiate the price down as much if I had demanded a RWD.
On that note, the sales manager at the first dealership either didn't know about the rear wheel steering or outright tried to deceive me. To paraphrase him "It makes no sense to get the RWD F-Sport as it's the same price as the AWD F-Sport". When I pointed out that the RWD F-Sport has four wheel steering and some other better components, he said it didn't. He said he went to special GS training and they told him the cars were identical other than how the wheels were driven. Couple that with him only giving me a $500 discount on MSRP and he lost my business. Unfortunate for him because my parents had bought two LX from him before.. and going forward I'm going to refer them to another dealership.
FYI, I'm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I also probably wouldn't have been able to negotiate the price down as much if I had demanded a RWD.
On that note, the sales manager at the first dealership either didn't know about the rear wheel steering or outright tried to deceive me. To paraphrase him "It makes no sense to get the RWD F-Sport as it's the same price as the AWD F-Sport". When I pointed out that the RWD F-Sport has four wheel steering and some other better components, he said it didn't. He said he went to special GS training and they told him the cars were identical other than how the wheels were driven. Couple that with him only giving me a $500 discount on MSRP and he lost my business. Unfortunate for him because my parents had bought two LX from him before.. and going forward I'm going to refer them to another dealership.
FYI, I'm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
05-03-13, 08:45 AM
#13
When I was looking for my GS, the dealerships told me that less than 5% of the cars they sell are RWD and as such they don't order them unless they're special (they did say they can order them though). In a way I was "lucky" that they didn't have a RWD to test drive as the comparison between the two would have probably made me want to buy the RWD. Because I only drove the AWD (and my comparison points were my wife's EX35, and my dad's older E-4Matic and current gen CLS-4Matic), I didn't "notice" a difference that made me want to go RWD.
I also probably wouldn't have been able to negotiate the price down as much if I had demanded a RWD.
On that note, the sales manager at the first dealership either didn't know about the rear wheel steering or outright tried to deceive me. To paraphrase him "It makes no sense to get the RWD F-Sport as it's the same price as the AWD F-Sport". When I pointed out that the RWD F-Sport has four wheel steering and some other better components, he said it didn't. He said he went to special GS training and they told him the cars were identical other than how the wheels were driven. Couple that with him only giving me a $500 discount on MSRP and he lost my business. Unfortunate for him because my parents had bought two LX from him before.. and going forward I'm going to refer them to another dealership.
FYI, I'm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I also probably wouldn't have been able to negotiate the price down as much if I had demanded a RWD.
On that note, the sales manager at the first dealership either didn't know about the rear wheel steering or outright tried to deceive me. To paraphrase him "It makes no sense to get the RWD F-Sport as it's the same price as the AWD F-Sport". When I pointed out that the RWD F-Sport has four wheel steering and some other better components, he said it didn't. He said he went to special GS training and they told him the cars were identical other than how the wheels were driven. Couple that with him only giving me a $500 discount on MSRP and he lost my business. Unfortunate for him because my parents had bought two LX from him before.. and going forward I'm going to refer them to another dealership.
FYI, I'm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
05-03-13, 09:31 AM
#14
On that note, the sales manager at the first dealership either didn't know about the rear wheel steering or outright tried to deceive me. To paraphrase him "It makes no sense to get the RWD F-Sport as it's the same price as the AWD F-Sport". When I pointed out that the RWD F-Sport has four wheel steering and some other better components, he said it didn't. He said he went to special GS training and they told him the cars were identical other than how the wheels were driven. Couple that with him only giving me a $500 discount on MSRP and he lost my business. Unfortunate for him because my parents had bought two LX from him before.. and going forward I'm going to refer them to another dealership.
FYI, I'm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The RWD is cheaper than AWD. Besides that, there are many other differences between the two, they are far from identical. Seems like this guy was either playing dumb so that you would buy the AWD, or he really has no clue what he is selling.....I went through hell to get the RWD back in 2008. Not a single North East dealer wanted to work with me. This is what I hate the most about Lexus. They don't let you choose what you want to drive.
05-03-13, 09:36 AM
#15
The RWD is cheaper than AWD. Besides that, there are many other differences between the two, they are far from identical. Seems like this guy was either playing dumb so that you would buy the AWD, or he really has no clue what he is selling.....I went through hell to get the RWD back in 2008. Not a single North East dealer wanted to work with me. This is what I hate the most about Lexus. They don't let you choose what you want to drive.